PANews Original | Korean Retail Is Leaving Crypto. Institutions Are Buying the Exchanges
Korean retail traders are cooling on crypto, but institutions are rushing to buy stakes in crypto exchanges.
Last year, trading volume across Koreaβs five major crypto exchanges briefly surpassed that of the KOSPI. By the end of May this year, however, crypto exchange volume had fallen to just around 2% of the Korean stock market. Amid the AI-driven equity rally,
@Samsung and
@SKhynix have become the new winning trades for local retail investors.
Meanwhile, institutions including Korea Investment & Securities,
@HanaBank_KR,
@Hanwha_Official, Samsung affiliates, and OKX are actively taking stakes in exchange operators such as
@CoinoneOfficial, Dunamu, and Flybit.
The reason is simple: in Korea, regulated exchanges are no longer just venues for spot crypto trading. They could become key gateways for stablecoins, RWAs, tokenized securities, custody, and institutional digital asset services.
Retail sees a quiet market. Institutions see early positioning for the next wave of digital financial infrastructure.
#Retail #Institutions #Korea #Crypto #CryptoExchanges